2021–22 Illinois Fighting Illini women's basketball team

The 2021–22 Illinois Fighting Illini women's basketball team represented the University of Illinois during the 2021–22 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Fighting Illini, led by fifth-year head coach Nancy Fahey, played their home games at State Farm Center as members of the Big Ten Conference.

2021–22 Illinois Fighting Illini women's basketball
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	7–20 (1–13 Big Ten)
Head coach	Nancy Fahey (5th season)
Assistant coaches	John Patterson Corry Irvin Hernando Planells
Home arena	State Farm Center

2021–22 Big Ten women's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 14 Ohio State	14	–	4		.778			25	–	7		.781
No. 8 Iowa †	14	–	4		.778			24	–	8		.750
No. 12 Michigan	13	–	4		.765			25	–	7		.781
No. 13 Maryland	13	–	4		.765			23	–	9		.719
No. 11 Indiana	11	–	5		.688			24	–	9		.727
Nebraska	11	–	7		.611			24	–	9		.727
Northwestern	8	–	8		.500			17	–	12		.586
Michigan State	8	–	9		.471			15	–	15		.500
Purdue	7	–	11		.389			17	–	15		.531
Minnesota	7	–	11		.389			15	–	18		.455
Penn State	5	–	13		.278			11	–	18		.379
Wisconsin	5	–	13		.278			8	–	21		.276
Rutgers	3	–	14		.176			11	–	20		.355
Illinois	1	–	13		.071			7	–	20		.259
† 2022 Big Ten tournament winner Rankings from AP poll

They finished the season 7–20, 1–13 in Big Ten play to finish in fourteenth place. As the fourteenth seed in the Big Ten women's tournament, they defeated eleventh seed Wisconsin in the First Round before losing to sixth seed Nebraska in the Second Round. They were not invited to the NCAA tournament or the WNIT.

Previous season

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, the Illini played fewer non-conference games than in previous seasons; three games were originally postponed and later canceled due to the pandemic. They finished the season 5–18, 2–16 in Big Ten play to finish in thirteenth place. They lost in the second round of the Big Ten women's tournament to Northwestern. Their first round win against Wisconsin was the first Big Ten tournament victory in coach Fahey's tenure at Illinois.

Roster

2021–22 Illinois Fighting Illini women's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Year Previous school Hometown G 0 Sara Anastasieska 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) GS Monte Sant Angelo Mercy Duke Sydney, Australia F 2 Lyric Robins 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) RS Sr Plano West Plano, TX F 3 Solape Amusan 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Jr Woodbury Woodbury, MN G 5 De'Myla Brown 5 ft 7 in (1.7 m) Jr North Little Rock Chipola College North Little Rock, AR G 11 Jada Peebles 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) Jr Wakefield Raleigh, NC G 12 Jayla Oden 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) Fr McDonogh Baltimore, MD G 13 Tara O'Malley 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) GS Mother McAuley Chicago, IL F/C 14 Geovana Lopes 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) Sr Odessa College Bataguassu, Brazil F 15 Keanna Rembert 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) Fr Millbrook Raleigh, NC F 20 Erika Porter 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) So Notre Dame H.S. West Windsor, NJ C 22 Eva Rubin 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) RS Sr Homewood-Flossmoor Flossmoor, IL G 24 Adalia McKenzie 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) Fr Park Center Brooklyn Park, MN G 32 Aaliyah Nye 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) So East Lansing East Lansing, MI F 44 Kendall Bostic 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) So Northwestern H.S. Kokomo, IN	Head coach Nancy Fahey (Wisconsin) Assistant coach(es) John Patterson (Fontbonne) Cory Irvin (Fresno State) Hernando Planells (Regis) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: May 12, 2022

Schedule

Source:

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
November 9, 2021* 11:00 a.m., BTN+		North Carolina Central	W 73–56	1–0	State Farm Center (1,983) Champaign, IL
November 14, 2021* 3:00 p.m., BTN+		Miami (OH)	W 72–65	2–0	State Farm Center (1,121) Champaign, IL
November 18, 2021* 7:00 p.m., BTN+		SIUE	L 62–71	2–1	State Farm Center (1,008) Champaign, IL
November 21, 2021* 2:00 p.m., BTN+		UC Riverside	W 86–82	3–1	State Farm Center (1,053) Champaign, IL
November 26, 2021* 1:15 p.m., FloHoops		vs. Dayton Daytona Beach Invitational	L 53–67	3–2	Ocean Center (0) Daytona Beach, FL
November 27, 2021* 11:00 a.m., FloHoops		vs. Middle Tennessee Daytona Beach Invitational	L 52–62	3–3	Ocean Center (0) Daytona Beach, FL
December 2, 2021* 7:00 p.m., BTN+		No. 25 Florida State ACC–Big Ten Women's Challenge	L 58–67	3–4	State Farm Center (1,027) Champaign, IL
December 5, 2021* 2:00 p.m., BTN+		Eastern Kentucky	W 71–57	4–4	State Farm Center (1,227) Champaign, IL
December 9, 2021 6:00 p.m., BTN+		at Michigan State	L 60–75	4–5 (0–1)	Breslin Center (3,213) East Lansing, MI
December 12, 2021* 2:00 p.m., BTN+		Butler	W 78–66	5–5	State Farm Center (1,015) Champaign, IL
December 19, 2021* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Southern Illinois	L 51–66	5–6	Banterra Center (539) Carbondale, IL
December 22, 2021* Noon, BTN+		Missouri	L 65–84	5–7	State Farm Center (1,247) Champaign, IL
December 30, 2021 7:00 p.m., BTN+		No. 6 Maryland	Canceled		State Farm Center  Champaign, IL
January 6, 2022 6:00 p.m., BTN+		at Ohio State	L 69–90	5–8 (0–2)	Value City Arena (2,567) Columbus, OH
January 9, 2022 2:00 p.m., BTN+		Wisconsin	W 68–47	6–8 (1–2)	State Farm Center (2,066) Champaign, IL
January 16, 2022 1:00 p.m., BTN+		at Penn State	L 72–90	6–9 (1–3)	Bryce Jordan Center (2,048) University Park, PA
January 20, 2022 7:00 p.m., BTN+		Purdue	L 67–89	6–10 (1–4)	State Farm Center (1,038) Champaign, IL
January 23, 2022 5:00 p.m., BTN		at No. 25 Iowa	L 56–82	6–11 (1–5)	Carver–Hawkeye Arena (8,977) Iowa City, IA
January 27, 2022 6:00 p.m., BTN+		at No. 6 Indiana	Canceled		Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall  Bloomington, IN
January 30, 2022 2:00 p.m., BTN+		at Northwestern	Canceled		Welsh-Ryan Arena  Evanston, IL
February 3, 2022 7:00 p.m., BTN+		No. 6 Michigan	Canceled		State Farm Center  Champaign, IL
February 6, 2022 1:00 p.m., BTN		at Wisconsin	L 62–70	6–12 (1–6)	Kohl Center (6,007) Madison, WI
February 9, 2022 7:00 p.m., BTN+		No. 7 Indiana	L 61–93	6–13 (1–7)	State Farm Center (1,198) Champaign, IL
February 12, 2022 2:00 p.m., BTN+		Nebraska	L 63–82	6–14 (1–8)	State Farm Center (1,182) Champaign, IL
February 14, 2022 8:00 p.m., BTN+		No. 18 Ohio State	L 67–86	6–15 (1–9)	State Farm Center (997) Champaign, IL
February 17, 2022 6:00 p.m., BTN+		at Purdue	L 54–70	6–16 (1–10)	Mackey Arena (2,983) West Lafayette, IN
February 20, 2022 4:00 p.m., BTN+		Northwestern	L 59–82	6–17 (1–11)	State Farm Center (942) Champaign, IL
February 24, 2022 7:00 p.m., BTN+		at Minnesota	L 54–87	6–18 (1–12)	Williams Arena (2,896) Minneapolis, MN
February 27, 2022 2:00 p.m., BTN+		Rutgers	L 56–66	6–19 (1–13)	State Farm Center (1,445) Champaign, IL
Big Ten Women's Tournament
March 2, 2022 3:30 p.m., BTN	(14)	vs. (11) Wisconsin First Round	W 75–66	7–19	Gainbridge Fieldhouse (0) Indianapolis, IN
March 3, 2022 7:30 p.m., BTN	(14)	vs. (6) Nebraska Second Round	L 74–92	7–20	Gainbridge Fieldhouse (0) Indianapolis, IN
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.

Rankings

Main article: 2021–22 NCAA Division I women's basketball rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: — = Not ranked

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Final
AP	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Coaches	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

Legend

		Increase in ranking
		Decrease in ranking
		Not ranked previous week
(RV)		Received Votes
(NR)		Not Ranked and Did not receive votes

The Coaches Poll did not release a Week 2 poll and the AP Poll did not release a poll after the NCAA Tournament.